My husband and I had been talking about the Disney World four park challenge on the last couple of trips and decided to go for it this trip!
The four-park challenge is simply that. You hit all four Walt Disney World theme parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios) in one day! It seems daunting when you first think about it, but we had a great time doing it! We even added that we wanted to take at least four types of transportation while doing our four-park challenge!
Here We Go!
We started off at our resort, Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa! We took the bus from our resort to Animal Kingdom.
Our plan for each park was to do one activity (ride, show, etc…), pin trade, take a picture with the icon of each park, and grab something to eat. Plus, we took various modes of transportation between each park! Our first mode of transportation was the Disney bus!
Animal Kingdom
First, we made our way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
We chose to do Animal Kingdom first because it’s the furthest from the other parks and not connected to any other park. This worked out better for us because we wanted to use different transportation during our four-park challenge day!
Our goal for each park was to have a picture with each park icon, as well as do other activities in each park such as pin trading. (If you’ve read some of my other Disney posts, you know I really love pin trading!)
Our activity at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was taking the train out to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.
Once we got to Rafiki’s Planet Watch, we found a petting zoo and Disney’s Animation Experience. During our visit, the Imagineer was teaching everyone how to draw Donald Duck step by step! We got there too late to have a chance to draw, but it was still fun to watch!
We also grabbed something to eat at each park! My husband and I ended up eating lunch at Pizzafari, a quick-service restaurant inside the park. It was a restaurant we had not tried yet and decide to try something new during our four-park challenge day!
The Newest Mode of Park Transportation
Once we spent a few hours at Animal Kingdom, we decided to figure out how to get SkyLiner and boat transportation into our day. We ended up taking a bus from Animal Kingdom to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and then taking the SkyLiner to Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
For me, the SkyLiner is my favorite form of transportation at Disney World! It’s a fun ride that can be done without a park ticket and the views are amazing!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Our second park was Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
After our quick SkyLiner ride, we landed at Hollywood Studios! We got our picture with the Tower of Terror and then grabbed a quick snack!
I decided that I wanted one of the large yummy donuts from Joffrey’s! I’m not a coffee drinker and my husband does not like their coffee, so he has never tried one before. I had one on our last trip and loved it, so I wanted to get another one! My husband and I shared one this time and he finally found something he liked at Joffrey’s!
Pro Tip: Joffrey’s gives a 20% discount for Disney Vacation Club (DVC) and Disney’s annual pass!
Our activity in Disney’s Hollywood Studios was watching the Beauty and the Beast show. Again, this was an activity that my husband and I have never done before even though we have visited Disney World on several occasions. It was a very good show and even impressed my husband (and he is hard to impress)!
Another first at Hollywood Studios is that my husband finally got his picture with the “J” block in the Pixar area. He’s mentioned wanting it on several occasions and there had always been someone sitting in front of it, but it was empty this time!
Our Next Transportation
After spending some additional time wandering around Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we headed to EPCOT! This time we decide to take the boat between Hollywood Studios and EPCOT!
This boat route between the two barks is called Friendship!
The boat ride was nice and relaxing. We got to sit back and rest our feet for a bit. However, it was definitely not the fastest choice to travel between the two parks. The boat stops at each hotel on Crescent Lake. That means a Swan and Dolphin stop, Beaches and Yacht Club stop, and Boardwalk stop before getting to EPCOT. We had not taken that route before and probably won’t again due to the time it took, but it really was a nice ride with great views!
Pro Tip: The best routes between Disney’s Hollywood Studios and EPCOT are the SkyLiner or walking. Both offer beautiful views!
EPCOT
Next, we arrived at EPCOT!
EPCOT is one of our favorite parks due to the festivals and all they have to offer. One of my favorite festivals is the Flower and Garden Festival because of all of the topiaries!
The picture below shows my favorite topiary for 2022! The dragon is made of flowers and other plants and is just gorgeous!
Besides our wandering around to look at the topiaries, our activity in EPCOT was riding through Living with the Land! I enjoy this boat ride very much. It’s education and a great way to relax our tired feet!
They decorate Living with the Land to go along with the seasons and with the EPCOT festivals. It’s always a little different each trip through! The picture below shows what it looked like during the Flower and Garden Festival. I also have another article that shows Living with the Land during the Festival of the Holidays at EPCOT!
Now back to our four-park challenge! My husband and I got our picture with Spaceship Earth and got to pin trade!
We also had supper in the Land Pavilion. Sunshine Seasons is one of our favorite quick-service restaurants. They have a wide menu that offers so much more than just chicken nuggets and french fries! My favorite is the salmon and my husband’s favorite is the roasted chicken! Plus, they have AMAZING turtle brownies that are sharable-size! We had a no-meat supper this trip due to it being a Friday during Lent, but it was still quite tasty!
Another Mode of Transportation
After supper, we made our way to the monorail and towards Magic Kingdom!
The Monorail is another fun mode of transportation! I love the picture below that I was able to capture from the EPCOT Monorail station!
Pro Tip: Keep in mind that there is not a direct Monorail from EPCOT to Magic Kingdom. You have to transfer to another Monorail at the Transporation and Ticket Center.
Magic Kingdom
Lastly, we made it to Magic Kingdom! Four-Park Challenge completed!
We headed straight to get me a snack since the place I wanted to go was closing a few minutes after we got to the park!
We headed to Gaston’s to get an enormous cinnamon roll. However, I was so excited to make it before it closed that I forgot to take any pictures of my huge cinnamon roll! I got it to go since they were closing and my husband had to laugh at how huge the to-go container was because of how big the roll was!
Even though I forgot to take a picture during our four-park challenge, I wanted to include a picture of Guston’s since it’s a less known restaurant so I found one from last fall! It’s located near Beauty and the Beast’s Castle in the back of Magic Kingdom.
Once I got my snack, we headed to get my husband a snack too. He didn’t want a cinnamon roll. Instead, he wanted another Joffrey’s donut since he enjoyed the one we shared earlier in the day so much!
Once we got his snack, we tried to ride a ride as part of our four-park challenge. However, that didn’t happen. My husband and I were in line for the People Mover and it broke down twice while we were in line. We took this as a sign and decide to search for some of the Fab 50 statues I had not been able to find yet. We found the Mad Hatter for our park activity!
The End of Our Challenge
When we arrived at Magic Kingdom, we didn’t get our picture with Cinderella’s Castle (the Magic Kingdom park icon) when we entered the park because we were forced on snacks. When we were heading out of the park, there were no Photo Pass photographers out because the fireworks were getting ready to start. So, we had to improvise on the photo!
However, we got a little Disney Magic when we were leaving Magic Kingdom. There was a wonderful Photo Pass photographer who was finishing up her shift and was willing to stay to take a couple more pictures. I really appreciated the extra time she took because she didn’t have to.
Pro Tip: If you ever get to experience some of that special Disney Magic or get to interact with a Cast Member that goes above and beyond, there’s something you can do! You can give a Cast Compliment by going through My Disney Experience or using #CastCompliment on any social media site with the Cast Member’s name and where you met them! If you have a Twitter make sure to tag Disney at @WDWGuestService.
And done!
We made it! From Saratoga Springs in the morning to all four parks and then back to Saratoga Springs! We did it all in 10 hours and 10 minutes and we had a great time! We were exhausted, but we had a great time!
If you are looking for a fun activity to do at Disney World on an adults-only trip or with teens, try the four-park challenge! It was something different and a lot of fun! It is feasible, but I do recommend you have a plan for what you want to do, what order you want to do the parks in, and how you plan to get from park to park! Enjoy!
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Four parks in one day definitely sounds like quite an undertaking.
It was and it was so much fun!
We are doing Disney this summer but with four little ones. This will be fun to think back to while we are there are to talk about trying for future trips!
Oh my gosh, you guys look like you had so much fun! I’d love to do this!
We did have a great time! I would definitely do it again! (My husband even really enjoyed it and he’s hard to please!)
OMG I can’t imagine doing the four park challenge with kids in tow. LOL. I wanted to try the Skyliner when we were there last year, but couldn’t fit it into my scheduled. Looks like fun.
The SkyLiner is a must-do!! We have ridden it just for the fun of it in the past! It’s so much fun!
Congratulations on completing this challenge. It looked like it was a lot of fun. Not sure I can do this but it would be quite an adventure to try. I am sure all the delicious snacks helped a lot. Lol.
Absolutely! The snacks are one of the best parts of Disney!
I never heard of the Four-Park Challenge before, but it sounds like fun! Also, thanks for the tip about how to compliment a cast member – we’ve had several over the last few trips that went above and beyond, so it will be nice to acknowledge their efforts in the future.
I love being able to acknowledge the cast members’ efforts, especially in a way that they get credit for and recognized by the company.
Awesome and inspiring! I’m ready to the 4 park challenge!
It was so fun! I’m definitely ready to do it again one day!
This sounds like a challenge, indeed! That’s a lot of Disney in one day. It’s cool that you guys had a good time, though!
It was great! It was a nice change from the typical park day that we usually do!
I didn’t know this was a challenge! We usually do it on our last day of vacation and run to each park to do our favorite things one last time
I love it! That’s a fun way to spend your last way of each trip!
Oh my… what a dream vacation. I seriously couldn’t imagine doing all 4 parks in one day though! But, you make it sound totally doable 🙂
It was great! We’ve been to the parks on several occasions and my husband is not super into doing the rides, so this was a perfect day for us! I got to see and do lots and he didn’t really have to ride any rides with me.
Four parks in 10 hours. Kudos to you. I don’t think I could do that. I’m glad you were able to accomplish it, though. Congratulations. I love your suggestion of giving a Cast Compliment for someone who did something worth acknowledging. We should all give credit where credit is due.
I agree, that it’s important to give people credit for what they do, especially when it’s above and beyond. I like that it’s so easy to give compliments to the cast members!